The Score | Carolina-Cherokee Creations

In October, the North Carolina Symphony partnered with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians for the world premiere of Si Otsedoha (We’re Still Here), a new work for orchestra and chorus by William Brittelle that incorporated texts from students at Cherokee Central Schools in western North Carolina. Cherokee High School’s Cherokee Chamber Singers performed Si Otsedoha with the orchestra in Raleigh, Wilmington, Boone, and Cherokee, North Carolina, and selections from Si Otsedoha were performed at the orchestra’s education concerts. The work stemmed from meetings in fall 2017 at which student leaders at Cherokee Central Schools created a forum for classmates to discuss their thoughts and feelings around Cherokee identity. The texts of Brittelle’s work were written in and sung primarily in Cherokee, a language spoken fluently by fewer than 300 people today. At some performances, Si Otsedoha headlined a program that also included “Amazing Grace” sung by the Cherokee Chamber Singers in Cherokee, accompanied by North Carolina Symphony Principal Cellist Bonnie Thron. “The thing I was left with after each of my visits with the student choir was the passion that these young folks have—passion for the Cherokee people but also passion for the future,” said North Carolina Symphony Music Director Grant Llewellyn.